Ranma one half: Changing who we are
by Burning Frost
Summary: Ranma and Tatewaki best friends? Ranma and Ryoga surrogate brothers? Ukyo has an amazon fiance? Ranma's a delinquent? What in the world? Please read and review.
1. Chapter 1

RANMA ½

**A/N- **Just an intro chapter to see what kind of feedback I get. May or may not continue. Please read and review.

**Disclaimer: **Ranma ½ belongs to the goddess Rumiko Takahashi and I thus disclaim all mutilations to her characters. Please don't sue me goddess, I added to your income by buying the first seventeen volumes of Ranma ½.

**RANMA ½ **

**CHANGING WHO WE ARE.**

For the first time since she had begun her training eleven years ago, Ranko was relaxed. The sun was at its zenith, spreading ray after ray of glorious light upon the slightly wet streets of Nerima, Tokyo. The clouds were sparse, playing a beautiful intermezzo across the floating sea of blue. The atmosphere of the city was calm, and peaceful, a far cry to the places she'd journeyed to in China, but then again, this _was_ her native country; why shouldn't she feel more at home here? Ranko looked up at the sky once more. For whatever reason, today, it seemed worth a second look, as though calling out to her, telling her to enjoy this one, solitary instant of peace. She listened, and drank up the serenity of the moment, punctuating it with the slow, soothing melody of the song her sensei had taught her years before.

As she rounded the corner and entered into the shopping district the atmosphere of peace wavered ever so slightly. The shift in emotion did not go unnoticed by her, but neither did it affect her in any real way. The men were staring. It was the usual occurrence, but it always served to make her feel self-conscious, almost uncomfortable with herself. She didn't lap up attention like other girls, the truth was she hated it, especially when it came in droves like this. Perhaps they stared because she dressed so differently, not wearing the modern trash that passed for clothing nowadays, but the more traditional wear of a red and white flowered kimono. Or perhaps it was because of the waist length ponytail she'd been growing for the last few years that was apparently way out of style… or perhaps it was because of another reason altogether… Whatever the reason, it did not bother her. Today of all days she refused to let it. Today was the day that she finally became free, the day when she finally severed all ties to the curse she had been dealt, and not the obvious one at that. No, today she annihilated the **real** curse that plagued her. The-…

The sudden realisation that she was far too relaxed for her own good hit her like a Bonbori to her face. So enwrapped in her own peace she failed to notice the presence of the two young males behind her, that was, until one thought it acceptable to place his hand on her shoulder. In the split second it took for the sensation to register to her brain, Ranko vaguely toyed with the idea of breaking the offending appendage; and then the owner of it in two for destroying her mood; but decided against it. At the very least, she could listen to what the men had to say before she expressed her displeasure.

"Hey beautiful, wanna have a good time?"

On second thought, why listen to words not worth hearing. It wasn't as though they weren't asking for it anyway. In less than the time it took for her to breathe her fight instincts had taken over. Her jaw clenched, muscles tensed, her battle aura flared and in a second the first male was launched into the stratosphere high above the - wait… She hadn't done that. Had she?

"What the-?"

The second one hit the earth with an impact that registered a full 4.5 on the Richter scale. Okay now she knew she hadn't done that. Ranko turned slowly, once again feigning the air innocence and helplessness that had personified her feminine side, to meet her saviour.

"Are you alright?"

A girl, and a pretty cute one at that. An ebony curtain of hair cascaded down her shoulders, tied back in a perfectly done knot with a perfectly done bow. A yellow vest, and red shorts clung tightly to her feminine figure, and Ranko found herself blushing at the sight.

"D-Domo arigato," Ranko stuttered with a bow.

"It was nothing," the girl laughed embarrassedly, "I was happy to do it. I hate perverts like that."

"S-still, it was very kind of you to help. Arigato."

Ranko bowed again, succeeding only in embarrassing the girl further.

"You're welcome," the girl responded a furious blush upon her face.

Ranko beamed. The girl really was cute.

Tendo Soun was a man who wore his emotions on his sleeves, (an attribute that he adamantly stated was a result of the raising of his three daughters), so when the letter he'd been expecting for years finally arrived it was only natural that he burst into tears of joy. The simple postcard with the picture of the panda on the front was enough to throw even the most gullible of persons to the importance that it held, but from the moment Soun had seen the badly scrawled handwriting he knew who it was from.

"Ranma's coming from China." It was signed, "Saotome".

"Finally," Soun said in-between tears, "Ranma's coming here. Oh how I've waited for this day!"

With barely a second's thought he bounded out of his sitting position his voice echoing throughout the halls as he called out the names of his daughters… Overexcitement has a way of making even the most observant of people miss important details, and Soun was no exception. Had he been truly attentive to the writings upon the postcard, he would have noticed the single underlined word below his friend's signature. "BEWARE!"

"KASUMI!"

"In here outou-san." The eldest called from the kitchen.

"NABIKI!"

"Hmm..?" She answered from her room.

"AKANE!"

"…"

"AKANE!"

"…"

"Where is that girl?"

Akane had met some nice people in her lifetime, but none as nice as the girl who followed her home. Sure she was somewhat strange, after all who followed a complete stranger to their home, but then again she was the first person that Akane found that she could truly relate too. Just like Akane, Ranko herself had an extensive martial arts background training in everything from the Mountain Warrior Righteous Fist Style, to the Wolfen Fang Dragon Flame ninjutsu techniques. Sure it irked that she had quote unquote "saved", a person who'd mastered far more martial arts in sixteen years, than most people could ever heard of in a lifetime, but she could stay angry. Not at Ranko… for some reason that exquisite face refused to fuel her anger. There was too much innocence there… Too much beauty… How could anyone remain vexed at such a being…?

"So your sensei made you run a hundred miles carrying one hundred and twenty pounds of weights on your legs?"

"Uh-huh. Fifty miles up the mountains and then the fifty miles back."

"Wow! That's one heck of a work out."

"Are you kidding Akane-chan? That was just the morning warm-up." Ranko giggled.

Akane blanched. No way was she telling the truth.

"After that there was the eight hour swim, the five hundred push ups, sit ups and jumping jacks, then there was kenjutsu training, taijustsu training and by that time all I usually had time to do was take a bath, get dressed, do my hair and get Ryoga so we could go to school."

Akane turned a shade whiter. No way she was human…

"Kuso," Akane murmured, "And I though I had it bad."

"Sensei's training was pretty brutal," Ranko frowned, "If it wasn't for Ryoga, I doubt I'd have kept what little sanity I possess."

"So, this Ryoga… Was he your boyfriend?" Akane sniffed.

"Boyfriend?" Ranko burst out laughing, "No. He was just a friend, more like a brother actually… Anyway I doubt I'll ever get a boyfriend."

"Why not?" Akane asked incredulously.

Ranko's face turned as red as her hair, "Umm… the truth is… I … I'm not really into guys…"

Akane turned, if even possible, yet another shade whiter. What kind of friend had she just made?

**A/N- Wow, Ranma's -er- Ranko's really girly… and a lily? Well I actually got a perfectly good explanation for that… Of course that depends on if anyone feels like reading this thing in the first place. So hey if you like it, for whatever weird reason, review. Ask the Ashbringer to write some more and even if it's only one decent review I will… think about it that is. MUHWAHWAHWA- cough… Still can't get that evil laughter right.**


	2. Enter Ranma

A/N- Oh dear God have mercy on my pitch black soul. Five reviews and not one of them asking me to jump into the flaming abyss of hell… DARN IT! Oh well… To answer a couple things:

**To Talent Scout and SithKnight-Galen**- Background comes in later, and Most of what I'm doing is telling how everyone got into the situations they're in now. As characters get introduced you'll learn of their pasts, and a little more of Ranma's which is a whole lot more complicated than before. And specifically to you Galen, Star Wars is cool, but remember everything in moderation… Maybe I shouldn't be the one speaking since I'm so obsessed with Hello Kitty… I like her soulless black eyes…

**Evil Kasumi**- Excuse me for asking a stupid question. Girl or Guy? If you think it's stupid then talk to one of my friend's who was conveniently registered as princessrosebud224, on a site and happens to be a perfectly heterosexual male… After that, I don't place my faith in names no more. Any who this Ranma/Ranko is a far different Ranma/Ranko as you'll see, and I'll have to ask for yours and everyone else's patience in waiting for the explanation of why Ranma/Ranko is the way he/she is so forgive the Ashbringer . FORGIVE HIM! I COMMAND IT!!

**OOC GUY, Rose1948, ranma girl 14, Mr. Thumbsup and Darkingfire- **Thanks for the encouragement and by the way Darkingfire, were you given that name by the gods of gloom and malice, or did you pull that from the top of your head? It's a pretty freaking good name. I SHALL SMITE YOU DOWN AND TAKE YOUR NAME FOR MY OWN. JANZO THE ASHBRINGER WILL THEN BE KNOWN AS JANZO THE DARKINGFIRE!! … … … I said that out loud again didn't I… DARN IT!

**Disclaimer: **Ranma ½ belongs to the goddess Rumiko Takahashi and I thus disclaim all mutilations to her characters. Please don't sue me goddess, I added to your income by buying the first seventeen volumes of Ranma ½.

**Chapter 1**

**Here's Ranma.**

Akane breathed… slowly… carefully…letting the air fill her lungs fully before expelling it in a smooth controlled breath. The calm before the storm… She struck, her hand a blur of motion connecting perfectly with the cinder blocks that became little more than rubble seconds later. She smiled.

"That felt pretty good."

And indeed it had. In that one great show of strength she'd released all the tension of the morning, something she'd needed to do especially after meeting that girl… It wasn't as though she didn't like Ranko, but knowing that she was g- g-… of a different preference than what society dictated really didn't sit all that well with her; especially when Ranko asked if she was doing anything on Saturday. It was a good thing the girl was sort of a ditz, because Akane doubted that anyone else would've fallen for that shitake ghost haunting grounds thing she'd made up on the spur of the moment. Ranko, thankfully, had taken it quite well, proceeding to disappear after a cheerful "I'll see you later!" Why she'd suddenly felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach after hearing those words, she'd never know, but at the very least she'd gotten over it.

"There you go again Akane. No wonder all the boys think you're weird."

"I wish," Akane murmured to herself.

Turning around she graced her sister with a tart smile.

"Nabiki, not everyone believes the world revolves around, ugh, boys."

Nabiki gave a bored smile. It was always the same with her younger sister. Ask her what she thought about boys, she hated them. Imply she was a yuri and she'd get all pissy. The girl really needed to decide what side of the fence she was on.

"Then I guess you won't be interested in this then. Daddy is quite excited."

Akane frowned deeply… Excited was not good…

OOOOOOO

"IINAZUKE?!"

That one single solitary word shattered the peace that had settled on the outside of the Tendo residence. Birds that had settled happily on the roof of the modest home took off in complete terror, calmly swaying branched waved as though in the face of gale force winds, even the soft, cool breeze seemed to know it was time to play dead in the face of such surprise and anger.

"We have a fiancé father? You didn't tell us before." Kasumi said, uncharacteristically startled.

"Yes he is the son of a very good friend of mine," Soun laughed, "Ranma Saotome. If one of you were to marry him and carry on this dojo the Tendo family legacy would be secured."

"Wait a minute!" Akane yelled incredulous, "Don't we have a say in who we marry?!"

"Akane's right otou-san, we've never even met Ranma," Kasumi agreed.

"That's easily fixed, Ranma's coming in from China," Soun said with an assuring smile.

"He's traveling all the way from China?" Nabiki asked. Traveling meant money!

"What's so great about traveling from China?" Akane grumbled.

"Is he cute?" Nabiki asked all too eagerly. Money was good. Money and good looks was better.

"I do hope he's not younger than me," Kasumi said with a thoughtful look to her hands, "Younger men bore me."

"Just what kind of guy is this Ranma anyway?!" Akane cut in.

"What kind of guy is Ranma?" Soun laughed heartily, "I have no idea."

"NANI?!"

"I've never met him before," Soun explained.

Kasumi smiled politely, not concerned in the slightest. Wasn't it just like her father to be this way.

Nabiki did a double take. Engaging your own offspring to someone, sight unseen?

Akane's scowl grew even darker.

"Don't worry if he's Genma's son, what could go wrong?"

OOOOO

"YOU'RE DEAD SAOTOME, YOU HEAR ME! DEAD!!"

The raucous echo of an engine ripped through the air, closely followed by the curious crash of metal, and an onslaught of vulgarity.

Hikaru Gosunkugi had seen some unfair fights before, for crying out loud he'd taken photos of a few of them. All the guys in his year versus Akane? Please no contest. But this was overdoing it, if only a little. Three motorcyclists, five brawlers and three guys with knives, all facing a single opponent? Each one of them was heavily muscled, as though they'd spent three quarters of their lives working out, and compared to their lone opponent, who looked a lot less - uh - huge, it almost seemed like they were giants. Most of them were grunts, Gosunkugi knew it from the way they looked, but the leader was very distinctive. His hair was cut into a Mohawk, and dyed green. A single scar lay over his left eye, his teeth filed down to sharp points and worst of all, there was a suspicious bulge in his shirt. The lone opponent was different in all ways. Aside from being unarmed, he didn't look the least bit bothered by their presence, in fact by his demeanor Gosunkugi might've thought he was almost bored. Either that or dumbstruck. He wore what seemed to be a high school uniform, black, with an oversized chain running from the buckle to his back pocket. His face was tough, but not rugged and his blue eyes sparkled almost evilly in the sunlight, and that weird waist length ponytail moved almost as though it had a life of its own.

"This again Same? Come on we've seen this one too many times, change the channel."

Gosunkugi stared. Was this guy stupid?

"Laugh all you want Saotome, but not even you can get out of this one." The leader, Same, laughed.

"Bite me Shark boy, I got your number and I didn't even want it." Saotome scoffed.

"Eh?"

"Look I'm flattered that you got this homosexual lust thing going on for me, but when you bring along so many spectators it's a real turn off." Saotome grinned.

Even in this kind of situation Gosunkugi, who was rarely ever happy in the first place, could barely control his laughter, the thugs didn't.

"SHUT UP ALL OF YOU!!"

They did, more out of fear than anything else.

"You think you're funny Saotome? I'll show you funny. I'll make your death nice and slow. Slow enough that I'll bet time to enjoy your scre-"

"You talk too damn much," Saotome interrupted with a glance at his watch, "Seriously I got some place to be and you're making me late."

Same clenched his teeth, hard. So hard in fact that Gosunkugi halfway wondered why no one else but him cringed at the sound. Then again, several of them were thugs and the only non thug was a crazy man. The way Gosunkugi saw it, they made him look almost normal… which, by the way, was saying a lot.

"Kill him." Same ordered.

If there was one thing Hikaru Gosunkugi hated about himself, was that he knew he was a coward. He could not fight, he had no friends, and he'd never been able to summon up the nerve to confess to the girl he'd long since admired… he hadn't even talked to her… And at any other time he'd have gotten the heck out of there, and waited for the headlines, but something compelled him to stay. Some strange and twisted force of nature had decided that he would stay in hiding and watch as the poor guy got slaughtered.

The motorcyclists revved their bikes, the brawlers cracked their knuckles, the knife wielders spun their blades, and their opponent shoved his hands into his pockets and yawned. One motorcycle shot forward, moving at a speed which would ensure death once the vehicle connected. Gosunkugi, being no sadist, closed his eyes and waited for the impact. There was none. The metallic crash of the bike resonated through his ears and he opened his eyes reflexively. Saotome still looked bored, still had his hands in his pockets and still had that cocky grin pasted on his face. The biker however was on the ground, coughing and wheezing… about six feet from where he'd originally started!

"Seriously, guys just attack me all at once so you can at least get a fighting chance all right?"

They did, and this time Gosunkugi watched. Saotome, he realised, was not crazy, but there was no way he was human either. Without even breaking a sweat he dispatched four of the thugs with a single spinning kick, two of them on motorcycles and the other two brawlers. They never got up. The other brawlers were next, two from his front and the other from behind. The knifers at his sides. There was no pause, no hesitation, as Saotome vaulted over the front brawlers head, landing his heel into the base of the larger man's spine.

The rest charged him, not one realising that they had long since lost the upper hand. Saotome moved, with grace, skill, and deadly accuracy, his attacks coming in fast and powerful. Each blow was successful, each on knocking their intended target into the realm of unconsciousness. The slaughter only lasted a few seconds, a few seconds that somehow seemed wrong to him… It was too short… way too short… Wait a second? Where the hell was Same?

"Hey Saotome!"

There he was. The almost victorious Saotome turned around, with a flourish and stopped dead at what he saw. He wasn't smiling anymore. In fact he was serious. More serious than he'd ever been in months.

"Let the guy go Same."

Same smirked. If there was one weakness he knew that Saotome possessed was this ridiculous notion about defending the innocent. Like defending the innocent had ever done anything for him. They were nothing more than a bunch of weaklings that life demanded exploitation from. Survival of the fittest right? Same pulled back the hammer of the 9mm pistol, pressing it even further into the sickly looking hostage's temple.

"Let him go? Sure I'll let him go, if you give me a clear shot that is." He smirked.

Saotome hesitated, "If you go down this road, I'll make sure that you'll never come back."

Same laughed, "Still trash talking? Haven't you realised that I hold all the cards Saotome?"

"Not even."

He moved, faster than Same had ever seen a person move in his life. Same's gun turned, ejecting a single slug before pain tore through his body. In a moment he was staring at the clear blue that was the sky, and the next the unmistakable ridges of Saotome's metal heel boot. More pain, and he swore he heard something snap. He couldn't move anymore, could barely breathe. There was no more pain anymore, the truth was there was little of anything anymore. He could feel nothing… but he could hear, and the words he heard scared the crud out of him.

"Nerima General? Yeah. There's a couple of guys a couple miles east from the old sewer drain. Send about twelve ambulances. No I'm not kidding… And if I were you I'd make it snappy. One of 'em's got a broken collarbone, left arm and a couple of crushed ribs. My name? I prefer to remain anonymous… for Kami's sake I'M NOT KIDDING!!"

OOOOO

"Sorry you got involved in this Hikaru. Seriously."

"Oh, it's no trouble at all. You saved me right?"

"But still…"

Hikaru Gosunkugi, had received enough excitement this day to last a lifetime. He'd seen one guy literally crush an army of thugs, been held hostage by their leader and been rescued in a time span of less than five minutes. Best of all he believed he might've made a friend… Granted, this potential friend's fight had almost gotten him killed, but still, Ranma Saotome was an okay guy by his books.

"So," Gosunkugi asked, "This happens to you all the time?"

Ranma sighed almost dejectedly, "Pretty much. It's what happens when you become the toughest guy in your school. Especially when it's a delinquent school. Then every Suzuki, Akira and Danjuro wants to beat you, no matter what the cost."

"Delinquent school?"

"Yeah. Delinquent School. Believe me when I say I never belonged there. I'm just living proof that it's whose butt you kicked rather than what you kicked it for."

For some strange reason Gosunkugi believed him… He was ridiculously strong and ruthless in battle, but he doubted that an inherently evil person would've charged a bullet for a guy he barely knew. Especially without some form of protection… The tear in Ranma's left cheek proved he'd possessed none…

Ranma stared out into the streets, a faraway look in his eyes.

"Do you believe that a person can atone for his sins Hikaru? I mean seriously. Even if his sin seems unforgivable; with enough work do you still think he can make things right again?"

Gosunkugi paused before answering. It was a tricky question, for a guy whose only wrong in life had been mean spirited thoughts to anyone who'd gotten close to the girl he liked...

"Yes. I mean if he's willing to do enough work to pay back for what he's done then I'm sure he can make things right."

Ranma smiled brightly and with a playful punch to his new friend's shoulder gave his first real laugh of the day.

"You're a good guy Hikaru. And if anyone tells you any different I'll pound 'em for you."

"Arigatou," replied Gosunkugi nursing his bruised shoulder.

OOOOO

A/N- Wanted to write more, but I decided to end it here. This is over a thousand more words than my introduction... Anyway expect the next chapter sometime in the future... maybe...


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